If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Most amazing, but little-known, all-time individual sports records

I was reminded of this topic as I contemplated Joe Dimaggio's career. He was before my time but I am not sure he gets credit for some of his records. (And I really dislike the Yankees!) Joltin' Joe hit t 361 home runs while striking out only 369 times, for a lifetime 1.02 ratio, the best of any player ever. I think the 369 strikeouts record is amazing. By comparison, Reggie Jackson struck out 2,597 times; A-Rod 2287, Derek Jeter 1840, MIckey Mantle 1710, Barry Bonds 1539. Dimaggio was one of the toughest outs in the history of baseball.

What's your nominee for the most amazing little-known individual record?

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats

“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

I was reminded of this topic as I contemplated Joe Dimaggio's career. He was before my time but I am not sure he gets credit for some of his records. (And I really dislike the Yankees!) Joltin' Joe hit t 361 home runs while striking out only 369 times, for a lifetime 1.02 ratio, the best of any player ever. I think the 369 strikeouts record is amazing. By comparison, Reggie Jackson struck out 2,597 times; A-Rod 2287, Derek Jeter 1840, MIckey Mantle 1710, Barry Bonds 1539. Dimaggio was one of the toughest outs in the history of baseball.

What's your nominee for the most amazing little-known individual record?

If I may quibble before I post one that I like, DiMaggio is only 64th all time in OBP, meaning there were 63 better guys at not making outs, tough or otherwise. Just saying.

Hockey record for most points between brothers.... Wayne and Brent Gretzky, Wayne had 2,857 points and Brent had 4, for a total of 2,861. I just love the gap between them. Still amazing the records Gretzky holds.

If I may quibble before I post one that I like, DiMaggio is only 64th all time in OBP, meaning there were 63 better guys at not making outs, tough or otherwise. Just saying.

Hockey record for most points between brothers.... Wayne and Brent Gretzky, Wayne had 2,857 points and Brent had 4, for a total of 2,861. I just love the gap between them. Still amazing the records Gretzky holds.

DiMaggio's strikeouts were low....and so were his walks. For example Ted Williams only struck out 340 times more than DiMaggio....but he walked 1,231 times more than DiMaggio.

Williams had 2,100 more plate appearances. He walked 20% of his appearances. DiMaggio walked 10% of his. The strike out percentages were much closer. 4.8% for DiMaggio to 7.2% for Williams.

If I may quibble before I post one that I like, DiMaggio is only 64th all time in OBP, meaning there were 63 better guys at not making outs, tough or otherwise. Just saying.

Good point. I was just speculating about Joe being a tough out. I had no idea where he ranked. (Still, 64th ain't shabby.)

Originally Posted by Diehard Ute

DiMaggio's strikeouts were low....and so were his walks. For example Ted Williams only struck out 340 times more than DiMaggio....but he walked 1,231 times more than DiMaggio.

Williams had 2,100 more plate appearances. He walked 20% of his appearances. DiMaggio walked 10% of his. The strike out percentages were much closer. 4.8% for DiMaggio to 7.2% for Williams.

I'm one of those who thinks Teddy Ballgame was the greatest hitter ever. (His autobiography is a great read.) I speculate that one reason Dimaggio was walked more was that he was surrounded by great hitters most of the time he played, so the advantage to walking him was reduced. There was more upside to walking the Splendid Splinter. I have no idea if I am right.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats

“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

Babe Ruth still holds the record for shutouts in a season by an LHP at 9 (tied by Ron Guidry in 1978). He also holds the record for most innings pitched in a World Series game at 14.

Now those are impressive. I did not know!

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats

“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats

“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

there's a new book out called Everybody Lies that delves into big data, it sounds like they've cracked the code about what makes one race horse faster than the rest.

Davidowitz relays the story of how the race horse analyst Jeff Seder used modern data collection methods and statistical correlation to predict the greatness of racehorses, most notably 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Historically, horses were judged by their pedigree. If a horse’s parents or siblings were great performers, then it was thought they also had a shot at success on the racetrack, and would sell for a lot of money at auction. Agents might also examine a young horse’s size or gait. But Seder, who has an MBA and law degree from Harvard University, found that none of these factors were all that predictive of greatness. Armed with a variety of tools, including a portable ultrasound machine, he went on the hunt for more telling factors. After years of collecting data on the attributes of young horses and comparing them to their earnings on the track, Seder found one unusual physical attribute that was highly predictive: the size of the horse’s left ventricle. American Pharoah had an enormous left ventricle. Along with the fact that all of his other attributes were in the range of what’s expected of a good thoroughbred, this made American Pharoah a good bet to be a great horse.Attributes of American Pharaoh as a 1-year-old

Attribute

Percentile

Height

56

Weight

61

Pedigree

70

Left Ventricle size

96.6

Davidowitz uses this story to make the point that new data sources are most powerful in domains where deep data analysis has been rare. There is not as much to learn from new data in analytics-saturated fields like finance or baseball, but there are still plenty of fields, like horse racing, that still rely heavily on traditions and gut feel.